Who's In Your Bed?
by PandaFire McMango
Summary: What if it wasn't Maureen who did the real cheating? What if Joanne was keeping a secret to herself? MoJo JoanneOC. This is my first OC fic! Cheers. rated T right now, though it might go up later because of...stuff. Angel will live, so it's during RENT.
1. The First Time

**this is the first chapter of a multi-chapter story. i don't usually write things like this...but oh well. Anyway, this is going to be updated as often as possible, along with my three other multi-chapter stories (they all start with M, strangely enough, though this one doesn't). make what you want of it...**

Joanne hurried down the street, her footsteps quick and nervous. Clouds ballooned out from her mouth as she panted with nerves and the effort of moving so fast. Her bag slapped against her leg, and the click of her heels echoed crazily in her ears. But it was her entire body that was buzzing with this electricity; this charge…Joanne was almost high on it. And at the same time, it made her sick.

She reached the front of her building and walked inside, the door squeaking slightly as she opened it. Joanne did the automatic check for mail, found nothing, and hurried up the stairs to her apartment door. She reached into her pocket for the key. It wasn't there. Joanne began to freak out, frantically digging around in her pockets until she found the key, tucked into a low corner of the stitching. She drew it out and erratically stuffed it in the keyhole. It was several moments before her hands stopped shaking and she could unlock the door.

Joanne moved inside and dropped her bag on the ground, not bothering to hang it up on its little hook. Instead, she kicked off her shoes, ran into the bedroom, and flung herself onto the bed. She lay on her back, staring up at the spider web cracks in the ceiling and trying desperately to convince herself that she wasn't just as big a bitch as those she had always despised.

Maureen wasn't perfect, far from it. She wouldn't hesitate to flirt or go for broke with the first girl or boy who came along. That justified it, right? That made it okay…Joanne ground her teeth together. Any way you went about it, she was the most disgusting, horrible hypocrite in the world, and she couldn't lie to herself or anyone else. But it had felt good, so damn good…as though for once, Joanne Jefferson was being the scumbag instead of someone else. She wasn't just the family disappointment now; she was worse, and part of her liked it that way. Let the rest of them hate her. She had the last three hours to remind her that she was not a good girl anymore.

She sighed and trailed a hand across the front of her shirt. Something didn't feel right…she sat up and looked down at her chest. One of the buttons was in the wrong hole, and the shirt was doubled up. Cursing, she ran to the bathroom and stared into the mirror, trembling hands undoing the errant button. It was her fault; too caught up in the adrenaline high to notice she hadn't done her shirt up right. But Maya could have told her, at least. She could have pointed out that Joanne looked like an idiot.

Joanne fastened the button correctly, then tiredly looked herself up and down in the mirror. She checked over her face and neck; no lipstick stains, no obvious hickies or bite marks...She was safe there. Joanne turned on the cold water and splashed her face and hair with it, as though trying to wash out the smell of bed sheets and perfume and heat. She toweled dry, redid her hair, and brushed down her clothes. There. The normal look of normal Joanne after a normal day at work.

Yeah right. Joanne sighed and went to start dinner. Maybe if she relaxed her nerves by cooking the Ramen pasta that both she and Maureen loved, she might be able to appear slightly less jumpy when Maureen got home.

That happened to be a maybe twenty minutes later. Joanne was just pouring the Ramen into bowls when she heard the front door open. It startled her so badly that she dropped the pot holding the noodles. It crashed to the floor, making a loud bang and splashing pasta and broth everywhere. Joanne shrieked and jumped back, nearly killing herself as she slipped on the broth.

"Pookie?" came the concerned inquiry from the hall. Maureen ran in, still wearing her coat and hat. She gasped when she saw the Ramen and pot on the floor; accompanied by the Ramen-spattered Joanne who was leaning against the counter, panting.

"Oh my god, Pookie, what happened?" she asked, hurrying over to Joanne. She wiped the hot soup and pasta off Joanne as best she could and took her hands, Maureen's chilled fingers holding Joanne's warm ones tightly.

"Pookie, did I scare you?" she asked gently. Joanne nodded stiffly. Maureen sighed.

"Hard day, I bet. Here, let's clean this up and get some more going. No, not you! Go and take off that shirt. Change into something that's not soaked in chicken-flavored water. Maybe," Maureen added, looking up at Joanne from the floor that she was crouched on, "we can both get around to taking our shirts off later." She winked and began to mop up the Ramen with her coat. Joanne stumbled off to the bedroom, silently swearing at herself. Great, Joanne, great. Keep spazzing like that and Maureen will know something's up right away. Even she's not that thick…But as Joanne slipped out of her soup-splashed shirt and threw on a sweatshirt, she began wishing that Maureen wasn't being so nice. It made it so much harder to live with what she had done.

When she got back, Maureen had cleaned up the Ramen and the floor. She had already started a new pot of water boiling, and it heated on the stove. Her coat had been laid over the back of a chair, and she was wearing one of her favorite velvety shirts, the blue-grey one with long sleeves. Her hair was back in a twist, and her legs were beautifully outlined by her jeans. She looked beautiful.

"There you go, Pookie! You look nice. Now, tell me about your day while that stuff heats up." She drew out two chairs at the small table and sat in one, cheerfully looking up at Joanne. Joanne gulped and took the other seat. It was as though Maureen _knew_…but she couldn't.

"Um…nothing happened, really. Same old, same old. Yup, just an everyday kind of day…" Joanne laughed too loudly. Blinking, she asked Maureen how her day had been. Maureen launched into a long, detailed narrative about how she walked all the avenues in alphabetical order three times. Joanne tried to smile and look attentive, but it just wasn't working. Guilt was boiling in the pit of her stomach, and no amount of adrenaline could quell it. Joanne was a shmuck. Worse than that.

She was a cheater.

**eesh. i don't like Joanne too much right now myself. but i DO love Ramen!**


	2. The Second Time

**jeez, this is weird to write. you have no idea. but i actually think joanne is a great character, so even if this story doesn't exactly glorify her, at least it's about her.**

"No…shit, that's next Wednesday. Darleen, can I please get those files _now_?" Joanne spoke hurriedly, her hands a blur as they scooted across her desk. She shuffled three bunches of papers, paperclipped another, and saved a pen from falling to the ground. Darleen, one of her coworkers, nodded sympathetically.

"I'll try. Joanne, you need to relax, this case is not such a huge deal. I know things get a little hectic at this stage, but can't you—"

"Yeah, okay, files please?" Joanne said pointedly, flipping through a binder. Darleen sighed and left for the file room. Joanne ground her teeth in relief. Darleen meant well, but she had the gift of saying exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time. The case was not a huge deal, no; but she had lost a big chunk of work time doing…_stuff_ with Maya, and now she was ages behind. It was beginning to seem like it wasn't worth it; after all, she couldn't afford to—

"Hey." Joanne froze, then looked up very slowly. A woman was leaning in the doorway, her wavy hair falling across one side of her face. She had skin so dark it was almost pitch black, and she wore a stylish suit. The toe of one high heel was tapping slightly on the floor. Joanne felt her throat go dry.

"Missed you during the weekend," Maya said casually, advancing on Joanne slowly. The thin gold bangle on one wrist jingled slightly. Joanne blinked. Maya reached her desk and turned to the side, sliding one leg delicately up on to the desk. She perched there gracefully, looking down with half-lidded eyes at Joanne, who felt like a deer in the headlights.

"Oh…I was, um, busy…with stuff…" Joanne wasn't sure what to say. She had been with the others; Maureen had managed to cajole her into spending the weekend at the loft with everyone else. It was incredible; Joanne could sneak around as much as she wanted behind Maureen's back and she _still_ couldn't refuse the diva a thing. It didn't exactly make life a lot easier.

Maya obviously wasn't very preoccupied with what Joanne said. She reached down and picked up the pen that Joanne had recently retrieved from the edge of the desk, rolling it back and forth between slim fingers. She smiled slightly.

"That's too bad. But you wouldn't happen to be busy tonight, would you?" Joanne's pulse raced. Maya couldn't be saying what she thought she was…could she? And even if she did mean exactly what Joanne knew she did, it was insane. Joanne was drastically behind schedule as it was, and besides, Maureen would wonder where she was…Despite these good, solid reasons in her head, Joanne found herself slowly shaking her head. Maya's smile widened.

"Great. So…my place? We'll leave around five, that should give me time to get my work on track…but I'll be looking forward to it." Maya winked and slid off the desk, hips swinging as she walked out. Joanne's eyes followed her until she was out of sight; then they fell closed in unhappiness. You're an idiot, Joanne, a true idiot…but even as she thought this, Joanne found herself suddenly relaxing. Maybe it was the obnoxious way Maya commanded her, made it about her own work instead of Joanne's, that relaxed her, since it was so reminiscent of Maureen; or maybe it was the thrill from last time. But either way, Joanne was almost psyched. Joanne Jefferson wasn't done breaking her own rules. She was just beginning.

_Four hours later…_

"Maureen, are you sure Joanne's okay? I mean, it's not normal to be this late, especially for her." Maureen rolled her eyes. Roger took a drag on his cigarette and blew out a cloud of smoke. He leaned back against the wall of the apartment building, glancing down the street.

"Yeah. Come to think of it, can anyone remember her being this late? Ever?" Mimi shook her head and turned to Maureen, who groaned.

"Guys, let it go! I know she's got some case going and she's got a lot of work. She's just staying after to catch up. C'mon, we gotta go or the Life is going to close!" Angel raised an eyebrow.

"How would you like it if we left without you? And anyway, the Life hardly ever closes. It's a certainty of life." Maureen shook her head firmly.

"Move your asses, guys. Joanne is _fine_, I promise!" Mark sighed and held up his camera, focusing on Maureen.

"State it for the camera, Maureen. In a week, when she's still gone and we're all searching for her, you eat those words." Maureen knocked the camera away from her. Mark winced as it banged against Mimi's arm, the owner of which squealed.

"The only thing I'm going to eat is some miso soup, and to do that we need to go! C'mon." She grabbed Collins by the arm and started to pull him along. He let himself be dragged away, shaking his head and laughing. Angel and Mimi glanced at each other, then followed. Roger stamped out his cigarette and started off. He looked over his shoulder at Mark.

"You coming, man?" Mark nodded and hurried after him.

**dum de dum...**


	3. Discovery

**oh dear lord, i have a twsited mind. but guess what? the parts for my school musical, The Wiz, came out! Dorothy, y'all! Woot!**

**aaaaaaaaand I'm sorry.**

Things settled into a pattern for Joanne. She'd work herself to death all day, and then once, later two, now three times a week, she would leave work early with Maya. Then she's rush home to make sure she was there to see Maureen. Then, while Maureen was asleep, Joanne would stay up nearly the whole night, frantically trying to finish the work she had lost. It wore her down fast and hard; Joanne got maybe six hours of sleep at most every night, and with the strain of more than weekly sessions with Maya and the normal demands of Maureen, Joanne began to crack at the edges. She was breaking down.

The last straw came when Maya, who was going to be gone for the Easter holidays, insisted on an extra night. Joanne despairingly complied; submitting to what finally brought her down. Maureen had dragged her along to the Life with the others that night since they hadn't had "a night all together in ages." Joanne, desperately short on sleep and stressed to the point of collapse, did just that. She fainted as they were waiting to sit down. Her fall was cushioned by the person standing behind her (Roger) so she wasn't hurt. But it was clear to everyone that she needed rest immediately. Collins called in sick for her, while Maureen made sure she stayed in bed.

Joanne was miserable. She was tired, frantic, pressed, and completely sleep-deprived. Her life was worse than it had ever been in the last five years. And yet she couldn't stop. It would have been so easy to say no to Maya or to ask for a lighter workload, but she didn't. It was like Joanne was watching herself day and night, wondering how in the world anyone could be so stupid, unable to do a thing to stop herself. She no longer enjoyed being with Maya; it had been great at first, but now it was a chore, just another complication in her life. Joanne knew she probably the only person in the world who saw their affair as a tiresome event.

But there was one thing Joanne didn't realize. Maureen might be ditzy enough not to realize that there was something more than just too much work going on with Joanne, but other people weren't. Other people meaning a certain person who knew more about Joanne's relationships (one of them, at least) than anyone else in the world.

-------------------------------

"Litzer case, Litzer case…fuck it all, where is that folder?" Joanne asked herself desperately, flicking through a pile of paper folders. Back at work, she was flogging herself to catch up. Maya had gotten back two days ago, and Joanne was saying a prayer of thanks that she hadn't yet asked Joanne for a night stop. She had actually gotten a decent night's sleep last night.

"Ms. Jefferson? There's a man here to see you," buzzed her intercom. Joanne ground her teeth and stabbed the reply button angrily.

"Whoever he is, Alicia, get rid of him because I have absolutely no time to deal. Just…tell him I have a meeting." There was a pause on the other end. Joanne sighed and pushed the button again. "I was on speakerphone, wasn't I?"

"I'll send him in," Alicia said, quickly disconnecting. Joanne stifled a groan and began shuffling folders. With any luck, it would be a salesman that she could scream at for a few minutes.

"Um, Joanne? This your office?" Joanne's head flew up as she recognized the voice. Mark was standing uncertainly in the doorway, his hands jammed in his pockets and his scarf wound tightly around his throat. Joanne smiled as she felt genuine pleasure from seeing him.

"Mark! Hi, what are you doing here?" She stood to greet him. He walked in slowly, looking nervous. His eyes roved around the room, linger ing on her certificates and awards on the wall. He smiled.

"Jeez, Joanne, you have all these degrees and awards and a hell of a lot of other stuff besides. Who knew you were a genius?" She laughed slightly and shrugged. It was strange; Mark appeared and she suddenly felt a little more relaxed.

"It's just part of the job." He noticed a frame photograph and smiled a little wider.

"Don't know them, do I?" She turned to see what he was looking at. It was picture that he himself had taken; a still from some film. It was all their friends walking on the street; Mimi and Roger with linked arms, grinning at the camera; Angel reaching up to pull Collins' cap down over his eyes; Maureen laughing hysterically at Collins' attempts to swat Angel away. Joanne herself could be seen peeking into the side of the frame, an outcast in the photo. And in real life too, she thought as she gazed at the picture.

"But, um…Joanne, I wanted to talk to you." She turned back to Mark, who was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. His icy blue eyes were sheltered as they locked on her. "I know you've stressed lately…hell, who wouldn't notice?" He bit his lip. Joanne sort of bobbed her head. Sometimes she and Mark were perfectly comfortable around each other. Other times…it was like this.

"And well…I don't think it's only work. You look too out of it for that. So I wanted to ask…is there anything else going on with you? Maybe something I can help with?" Joanne stared at him. Mark of all people, asking is he could help her out. For a split second, Joanne wanted to fall into his arms and sob into his shoulder. But that was lunacy. She couldn't tell anybody. It had to be a secret because—

"baby, I missed you!" Maya burst in through the open door, ran to Joanne (apparently unaware that Mark was standing in the room), and threw her arms around her, pulling her into a hard kiss.

The bottom of Joanne's stomach dropped down to Australia.

**oh shit.**


	4. Guilty

**eesh. i would HATE to be Joanne.**

Joanne pushed Maya off, her face hot and blushing. Maya looked confused as to why Joanne had done so, but then she caught sight of Mark and giggled with surprise.

"Whoops! I guess I didn't realize you had company. I'll just see you later, okay?" Maya slinked out of the office, nodding at Mark and casting a smile at Joanne over her shoulder. Apparently, the woman was completely oblivious to the damage to Joanne's life she had just done.

The office was silent, a fragile, thin silence. Joanne couldn't bring herself to look at Mark, to see his face and the expression on it. Instead, she stared at a paperweight on her desk. It was cheap and gaudy; a little sequined bird, made of purple felt and with tiny tufts of multicolored poofing out from its head and wings. Angel had given to her to celebrate a particularly big case that Joanne had one. Until now, it had always just been there, sitting on the desk and aiding her in the quest to sort papers. Now Joanne couldn't tear her eyes away from it.

"How long?" Mark's voice was low and emotionless. Joanne still couldn't look at him. She took in the way the light seemed to trap itself inside the sequins on the bird's neck, how the slight breeze of her breath made the tiny feathers only just tilt back and forth. Maybe, if she stared hard enough, Mark and Maureen and Maya and the world would just go away…

"Joanne, how long?" There was his voice again. She gritted her teeth and did the only thing she could do.

She finally told the truth.

"Since…since late January. Two months…I'm not sure…" That's it; keep your voice completely neutral. Just do that and you won't cry…

"So…is that why you've been so stressed? Because you've been spending time with…her?" Joanne nodded. She finally ripped her eyes away from the little bird and chanced a look at Mark. His face was paper white, and his jaw was tense. She could see that his hands were clenched into fists. All of a sudden, Joanne felt a desperate need to explain what she had done to Mark, to keep him from hating her, to make him understand.

"Mark, you don't…you don't know what I've been feeling like." Her voice cracked, and she took a deep breath. "I'm tired and I'm behind in my work and…it's all just too much. I know that it sounds crazy, but I was doing this because I felt like I had to. At first, it was this rush that I got…but now it's only—"

"I don't give a crap." His words stopped her cold. He was looking down on her now, although how he could do that when he wasn't any taller than her and he was halfway across the room was hard to explain. Perhaps it was the utter disdain and disgust in his eyes. Perhaps that's what it was.

"Wh—what?"

"You heard me. Joanne…" He was shaking his head. Joanne couldn't stand the disappointment in her eyes. However, to her horror she found that her trick of staring at something was backfiring on her; she couldn't look away from Mark, even though she was straining to do so.

"Joanne, I thought you understood what it was like. I thought you knew how it felt to be sure that someone…that someone loved you one minute, and then the next second it crashed down around you and you knew that you were only one on a rotating schedule…or even worse, only an assurance that could be counted on for love forever. I thought you knew how it felt…and I thought you were like me; you promised yourself that no matter what, you wouldn't hurt anyone like that. Especially not someone who cared about you." Mark took a step back. He laughed dryly, a laugh that wasn't a laugh, and he shrugged.

"Somehow, I never imagined that Maureen might get a taste of that. I guess things don't work like out like you think they will." He turned to leave. Joanne stood up so fast that her chair nearly over turned behind her.

"Mark, wait!" He stopped and looked over one shoulder.

"What?" The word dripped with contempt. Joanne swallowed.

"You're…going to tell Maureen?" He turned around abruptly and walked forward until they were only separated by her desk. His eyes blazed.

"We trusted you, Joanne! All of us! Especially her! You made this choice, live with it!" Mark's voice rang out loudly, piercing Joanne's ears like needles. She winced.

"I'm going to do a favor that Maureen never did me. I'm going to tell her about this before she finds out on her own. I'm not going to let her get hurt like I was." And Mark stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Joanne sank back into her chair, numb.

So her nightmare had come true; Maureen was going to find out. Joanne wondered dully what she should do. Should she tell Maya? Should she head Mark off at the pass? Should she start getting ready to grovel?

Or should she cry?

As it turned out, the last one became the most appealing.

-------------------------------------------------------

Mark hurried down the street, hands stuck deep in his pockets and breaths coming in short gasps. His footsteps thudded on the pavement. He wanted to curl up and hide forever.

Joanne was cheating. Joanne, the one person who he had been sure knew how he felt about Maureen and her actions, was cheating with another woman. It made him feel sick. If Joanne couldn't be trusted to keep a relationship, then no one could be.

A problem presented itself to him. He had said that he would tell Maureen what was going on. Mark knew that telling Maureen something like that was probably one of the most terrible things that a person could be asked to endure. She would be furious…or worse, crushed. Maybe she wouldn't believe him. Maybe she would think he was joking. Or maybe, he just wouldn't tell her.

No. Unappealing though it was, he knew that as Maureen's friend, he had to let her know the truth. But how? Mark was not an especially brave or risk-loving person. He wanted Maureen to know…but he did NOT want to be the one to tell her.

And then a thought occurred to Mark. It was a lousy one, a cowardly one…but it wasn't too lousy or cowardly to cross it off the list of options. Mark clung to it and set his resolve. Taking a deep breath, he turned and headed towards the train station.

He needed to get to NYU.

Now.

**anyone wanna take a stab what Marky might be up to?**


	5. Of Course I Believe You

**eesh. this is a depressing fics. i'm updating my parodies and all that crap for a while. yay!**

"And therefore, what did Sartre—hey; it's that happy time of day where we get to part ways! Get your asses out of here, go on." Collins grinned as his students laughed and started to pack up their things. He enjoyed playing around with them, though he found that most of them paled in comparison with his friends. Still, it was easy to imagine maybe Mark or Joanne in this class. He could almost see Mark coming down the classroom stairs at the beginning of the lesson…

Collins blinked. He wasn't imagining it; Mark was actually hurrying down the stairs, his gaze fixed on Collins as he pushed past students. Collins frowned and came out from behind his desk to meet Mark at the bottom stair.

"Mark, what's up, man? Something wrong? You look—"

"Collins, I need to talk to you. Now." Collins stared at Mark. He looked flushed and upset, his eyes flickering with agitation. People were pausing in their preparations to leave, curiously observing Mark.

"Um…Mark, can you wait a little while? I have another class coming in right after this one, and I really can't get all—"

"Now." Mark shook his head. Collins was starting to feel a little freaked out. Mark was acting pretty strange. He decided to humor him. Taking Mark's arm, he pulled into the little study that was adjacent to the main classroom. Mark leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling.

"So what's this big, urgent thing you need it talk to me about?" Other times, Collins would have been irritated at the interruption. But Mark was worrying him. Mark sighed and looked at Collins.

"Jeez…I don't know how to say it, but…Collins, I found something out. Something pretty fucking bad." Collins raised an eyebrow.

"And?"

"It's about Joanne…why she's been so tense and hurried and everything." Mark seemed bitter. Collins was getting a little scared.

"Just say it, Mark, whatever it is. Get it out." Mark took a breath and nodded.

"Joanne…is, um…oh, for the love of God, I just have to say it. She's cheating on Maureen." Mark bit his tongue as soon as he said Maureen's name. But Collins' reaction was not exactly what he expected. Instead of gaping or shouting, Collins sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead, as if in weariness.

"Mark, Mark, Mark…man, I don't think you should do things like this."

"Like what? Collins, what are you talking about?" Collins sighed again and walked over to Mark, putting a friendly arm around his shoulders.

"Listen, I know that you're still sore about being dumped and all. And I get it, really I do…but Mark, you shouldn't be trying stunts like this."

"Like _what_?" Mark practically wailed. Collins frowned.

"Like trying to break Maureen and Joanne up. If there's one thing I know about Jo, it's that she wouldn't cheat. I can understand why you might like to break them apart…but seriously, man, that's too low for you."

"What are you talking about? Do you think I made this up?" yipped Mark indignantly. Collins shrugged.

"I can't believe that Joanne would do something like that. To be nice, she gets anal retentive about Maureen saying thank you to a popcorn vendor. C'mon, would she really be able to even conceive the possibility of cheating?" Mark ground his teeth in frustration.

"Collins, you know me. You're one of my best friends. I admit, I'm a little…nostalgic about my time with Maureen, but I would _never_ try to break anyone up by spreading rumors. Joanne is cheating on Maureen, and she's admitted it to me. I've seen the woman kiss her, for Christ's sake." Collins' eyebrows shot up. Mark nodded.

"Listen. I wouldn't say this if it wasn't true. Collins, you have to trust me on this one." Collins shrugged.

"I dunno, man…"

"Ok, this is getting nowhere. What do you want me to do, call Joanne up and make her confess over the phone? I don't know what else to say, but I'm not lying, Collins. For God's sake, it's me, Mark, the guy without a spine. Do I really have the backbone to make this kind of thing up and go through with it?" Collins snorted.

"There's a point."

"Exactly." Collins ground his teeth together and crossed his arms.

"Fine, I believe you. But what are we going to do about it?" Mark frowned.

"Tell Maureen, of course. What else?" Collins shook his head. Then his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Wait…_now_ I get it! You came here so that you could tell me this and make _me_ tell Maureen so _you_ wouldn't have to do it!" Mark shrugged and wouldn't meet Collins' eyes.

"Not…exactly…"

"Wow, Mark. Just wow. And now you've got my conscience yelling at me…sometimes you really piss me off, man." Mark groaned.

"Collins, I'm not unloading this on you. I just can't do it alone. And _you_ didn't believe me at first—do you really think Maureen will think I'm telling the truth? I need your credibility." Collins rubbed his temples with two fingers. Outside, the sound of arriving students swelled.

"Listen, Mark…I can't deal with this just now, I'm still getting my brain around it. Can you just wait around until this class is done? I'll help you with this then." Mark sighed. He had the feeling that Collin still didn't really believe him. But what choice did he have?

"Fine. I'll stay outside." Collins nodded and put a hand on Mark's shoulder.

"Just calm down, man. It's all gonna be all right." Mark rolled his eyes.

"Sure."

**blearg. Collins, don't be a dunderhead!**

**i'm sorry, but i absolutely cannot get enough of that word.**


	6. Ending It

**gah. i'm sorry i haven't update in so long! i promsie that i'll have more regular updates with all my stories coming in. i've just been busy...but whatevs! Here's the next chapter!**

"Collins, you can't keep stalling like this."

"Man, I am not stalling."

"Oh, so forgetting an inch-thick stack of papers, misplacing your bag, and having to both rearrange and individually clean the chalkboard erasers are all part of your daily routine, right?" Mark said, raising one eyebrow. Collins sighed and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms almost wearily. The classroom was empty except for the two of them; Collins was done for the day, and Mark was eager to get out and figure out what to do about Maureen and Joanne. Collins, however, seemed to have his heart set on staying within the classroom.

"Look, Mark, you're one of my best friends, and I do trust you. I just…I just can't get my head around this. Know what I mean?"

"No," grumbled Mark. Collins sighed and leaned back against his desk.

"Ok, think of it like this. What would you think if I told you that Roger was giving up the guitar to play the accordion while wearing lederhosen and performing a frolicsome dance?" Mark's eyes widened.

"Collins, I will never forgive you for putting that image into my brain. Oh my god…you suck, I _hate_ you." Mark clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut, while Collins laughed.

"But that's what I mean, right? You wouldn't believe me, even though you know you can trust me," Collins declared. Mark shook his head.

"Collins, I don't actually trust you all that much. I mean, I trust you with my life and all, but ever since that time with the orange—"

"Oh, that was years ago! And besides, I heard that girl's out of surgery and she's beginning to speak again, so you didn't ruin her life completely…you only ruined it a little. And it wasn't my fault that you believed me, anyway."

"You are such a—damn it, I am not going off topic! Collins, I'm telling the truth. And I need your help, man, I really do." Collins sighed and scratched his head.

"All right, all right…but Mark, if you're lying to me, I will hunt you down and—"

"I'm not lying!"

"I guess you're not…holy fuck, this is going to be another one of those episodes that requires massive therapy, isn't it?"

"Well…"

"I _knew_ it!"

-----------------------------

"Maya? I…I need to talk to you. Now." Joanne wrung her hands nervously behind her back. Her palms were sweating. Maya looked up from the folders in her hands and smiled.

"Sure, baby. What's up?" Just then, Tina and Seth walked into the room, arguing about just how hot the newest lawsuit defendant was. Joanne groaned and took Maya by the wrist, pulling her out of the small coffee room and down the hall to stand inside an empty doorway. Maya raise and eyebrow and crossed her arms, pulling her wrist out of Joanne's grip.

"Joanne, I don't have time to dodge people. If you need to say something, say it." Joanne nodded and wiped her hands on her back pockets. She bit her tongue, then swallowed and tried to look Maya in the eye. She couldn't, so she settled for gazing at her chin.

"Maya…we need to end this." Joanne braced herself, but Maya only stared blankly at her.

"End what?"

"I mean…we need to end us. You know…stop doing what we…um…" Joanne felt like a total idiot. She could feel it starting to dawn on Maya what she meant.

"Wait…you're…you're breaking up with me?"

"We were never really together," Joanne heard herself say. "I'm sorry…I never told you that…well…I have a girlfriend already." Maya rolled her eyes and placed one hand on her hip.

"Oh, I know that. Everyone does." Joanne's head snapped up and she stared at Maya.

"What? How…how could you know that? I've never told anyone here about—"

"Joanne, it's pretty damn obvious. I mean, come on; the pictures on your desk, the way you always act so nervous whenever we go over a couple hours, your little spaz fests whenever you have to take a 'personal' call…I knew all along. I just didn't care…and neither should you." Maya reached out and trailed a slim finger down Joanne's neck. "I've never let it bother me, so why should you? And Joanne…can you really give up what we do together?" Joanne shivered. All of a sudden, she wanted to turn and run as fast as she could away, away, away. Maureen's face flashed into her mind, and she felt sick. Betrayal is a powerful nausea-inducer.

"But I do care, Maya, that's the thing. I've always cared, but I just haven't been strong enough to stop what I never meant to start. I'm sorry, but we're done. Finished." Joanne felt her chest heaving….not with nervousne3ss, for once, but with something like excitement. She had finally done it. She really had.

"Okay. Fine. Whatever," Maya said icily, bringing Joanne down to earth a bit. She pretended to examine one smoothly sculpted nail, her eyes narrowed as they flicked back and forth between the nail and Joanne. "But if you ever try to come crawling back, don't bother. I'm not really interested in girls like…well…you."

"How can you not be?" Joanne replied fiercely. "I guess you've been taking me home for the last three weeks because I match your décor, right?" Maya blinked. Joanne was not the kind of person to stand up for herself, at least not around Maya.

"Wow, great comeback. Really. But if you'll excuse me, I've got to go talk to someone who makes me horny." Maya obviously thought that was slick or something, though Joanne just found it incredibly amusing. Maya glared at her as she snorted with laughter, then walked quickly down the hallway, her hips swinging angrily and her hands clenched into fists. Joanne leaned against the wall, her laughter growing hysterical as she let off the steam of three weeks of stress. She was free now! No more running of to Maya's when she was swamped with work, no more falling asleep in mid-step, no more worrying about Maureen finding out…

Maureen!

Joanne instantly felt as though someone had doused her with cold water. For all she knew, Mark might have told Maureen already, and everything would be a disaster. She had to get to Maureen before he did. Joanne started to look for a payphone before she realized that she didn't know where Maureen was today; she had been too distracted earlier to find out. Cursing, Joanne ran to find her coat. She'd track Maureen down herself.

As Joanne rushed out of the building, she spent another swear on Mark being the one who found this out in the first place. The one person who had always been more involved in her relationship with Maureen than anyone HAD to be the person who caught her in the act. Joanne gritted her teeth together and tired to be positive. At least Angel hadn't found out; then she'd be really dead.

--------------------------------

"Angel? Hi, it's Mark. Listen, there's something I've got to talk to you about. Collins isn't helping me at all. No, it's not about me…it's…well, let's just say it's hard to believe…"

**ah, Marky. Marky, Marky, Marky.**


	7. The Phone Calls

**this is a rather short, semi-filler chapter. sorry! i'm just a little cranky and some of my friends are going through crises, so i'm harried. i'll try as hard as i can to keep updating!**

"You told Angel?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Ok, no jokes now. You told Angel?"

"Yes, Collins, I did, and—"

" Mark, you know I don't like being messed with, so I'm going to ask you one more time. You told Angel?"

"I'm about to snap and go psycho, YES, I called Angel! So what?"

"Mark… Mark, oh, Mark, oh, Mark…why, man? Why?" Collins moaned, putting his head in his hands. Mark nudged him in the ribs with his elbow.

"WHAT why? For fuck's sake, tell me!" Mark insisted. Collins shied away from the painful jabbing elbow, now hitting his forehead with one fist. Mark followed him, mercilessly going at his ribs with his pale, thin, extremely bony elbow. Students that were streaming past them across the chilly campus gave them strange looks and a wide birth.

"Collins…Collins…_Collins_…"

"Get away from me, I need those! Mark, I'm just having a little trouble believing that such a bright young lad as yourself would be insane enough to call Angel and tell her about this."

"What's wrong with it? She can handle it, she's great with this kind of stuff."

"No, see, what will happen is she'll try to do this for us, at least the Maureen part, and though I love Angel with all my heart, she has NOT known Maureen long enough to do this right. Maureen is like a computer that's permanently brand new. She'll crash if you even click the mouse at the wrong time or in the wrong place _once_." Mark screwed his face up.

"That sounded a little kinky…"

"You pervert, snap out of it. The point is, make one wrong move and Maureen blows up in your face. I've had experience, trust me."

"I have too, and she's not that…um, she's not really…I think you're over…ok, so I fucked up. We all do! And Angel may surprise you." Collins sighed and drew his coat a little closer around him as they began to head towards the street. A cold wind bit at Mark's face, and he shielded it with one hand. "Anyway, we're losing sight of the big picture. The facts are, Joanne has been cheating on Maureen for God knows how long, and somehow she has to be told. We can't control what happens after that, it's between them. But for the moment, let's focus on breaking this to Maureen as gently as we can."

"Let's not forget that in addition to Angel, Joanne may be trying to get to her first. She could want to head us off at the past and either tell her the truth or…"

"Convince her that whatever we try to tell her is a trick."

"Not even Jo would sink that low."

"She's been cheating on the Queen of Cheaters, doesn't that say something about her?"

"You know, Mark," Collins said, casting a sideways glance at his friend, "it sounds to me like you're cheerleading against Joanne for another reason that just wanting to bring her to justice. Don't you think—?"

"Collins, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm over her! It's over! I've moved on, okay? I've moved on!" Mark exploded. Collins shrugged in apology.

"I got it, I got it. You're Maureen's friend too; I know you care about her just as much as I do. Okay, how do we do this?"

"I was hoping you had some ideas…"

Angel sighed and stared at the phone. She had a lot of options...none of them savory. She knew that Mark would tell Collins about the call to her, and Collins would freak out about what she might do. It made her smile slightly, how well she knew him and what he knew about her. It just made her love him more. Still, she didn't have to let him know that there was nothing to fear from her yet. After all, she could be unpredictable if she wanted.

Angel drew her legs up against her chest and rested her head on her knees. Whatever she had thought Joanne was capable of, this went way beyond the parameters. Joanne did not cheat; Joanne was anal retentive about Maureen cheating, perhaps, but she herself never cheated. She was not a traitor, not a liar to this extent. But Angel had to say that she trusted Mark not to make up a story of this caliber and as far as she could tell, it was true. Angel breathed another long sigh. If anything could go wrong, it would. Forget Newton's Laws; that was Bohemia's First Law.

Ok. What could she do?

Call Maureen and tell her over the phone?

Not likely.

Call Maureen and find out where she was, then tell her in person?

Again, bad idea.

Call Mark or Collins back?

Not appealing. And probably not possible. She had recognized the hum of NYU students in the background of Mark's call from when Collins had called her at work. There was very little chance that they were still by the pay phone.

Call Joanne?

Angel considered this one a little longer than the others. Joanne was always in reach because of her cell phone. The idea of talking to her seemed plausible…even a step in the right direction. She had to find out the particulars, see where Joanne was and what she was thinking. Angel couldn't bring herself to believe that Joanne was wholly in the wrong. A naturally fair-minded person, Angel felt that to at least get Joanne's side of the story might avert a disaster.

Satisfied with her decision, Angel dialed.

* * *

Maureen was playing around in a playground near Central Park. She had no idea of what was happening. She had no idea what was going to happen either.

She was oblivious and proud of it.

**agh. i am depressing meself. on the other hand, Who's Line is on! WOOt! I LOVE THAT SHOW!!**


	8. A Conversation

**A/N: **Disgustingly short chapter, pretty much Angel and Joanne talking. I'm a lazy bum and I just didn't want to add anything,

* * *

Joanne was just crossing the street when she heard her phone ringing in her coat pocket. Muttering a curse word, she made it to the opposite corner and set down her bag, digging through the crap in her pockets before finally finding the bulky cell phone. Hefting it in one hand, she barked, "Hello?!"

"Jo? It's Angel."

Joanne sighed internally. Only Angel, she couldn't know yet. "Hey, Angel. Listen, can I call you back later? I'm a little harried right now."

As she said this, she was power-walking down the street, nearly knocking over the smaller people in her way. A blonde man swore at her, but she ignored him. However, as soon as Joanne heard Angel's next words, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Joanne, we have to talk about Maureen."

"Oh…um, what do you mean?" Joanne asked, her voice shaking. She swallowed and shook her head to clear it. Now people swore at her as they hurried past her immobile body. A little boy swiped a sticky hand across her pant leg as his mother dragged him past. She didn't notice.

"You know, Joanne. Mark called, I know."

"Fuck…fuck, fuck, fuck!" Joanne moaned, now walking quickly. She made it to a bus stop and sank onto the bench, pushing aside an old lady who was laden with shopping bags. The lady glared at her, and Joanne ground her teeth together. She was just pissing everybody off today, wasn't she?

"Look, Angel—"

"Joanne, don't. I don't want a case for your defense. You made a mistake. I get that. The thing to think about now is how you're to solve it."

"I…I know," Joanne whispered, suddenly choked up. This terrible secret was out now, and she was going to suffer. It didn't even matter that she'd broken up with Maya, or that deep down, Joanne knew she really did love Maureen. All that matter was she'd slept with someone else, and after that there was really nothing else to say.

"Angel…are you disappointed in me?" Joanne asked slowly. She couldn't bear to have Angel hate her; let the world condemn her and cast her out, let everyone else shun her, but not Angel. Angel had compassion when no one did, and if she had none for Joanne, everything was done. Finished. Wrecked forever.

After a soft sigh and a short pause, Angel answered. "I don't think so, Joanne. At least…I don't want to be. I love you, Jo, and I know that you're a good woman, a good person. I know there must be a reason…but it was still a nominally stupid thing to do."

"I know, oh God, I know…"

"Just calm down and tell me what you're planning to do."

"Um…" Joanne felt a blush creeping into her cheeks, even though Angel could in no way see her. "I hadn't really thought about that too much. I was just going to…tell her."

Angel sighed. "I hate to say it, but that might be the best possible option. Don't butter her up or try to make it seem better than it is…she'll get even madder. Just…let her know and get ready to run."

"And if she tries to kill me?"

"Make sure there's a weapon on hand. Do you know kung fu?"

Joanne rubbed her temples with two fingers. She was getting a major migrain from this. Without really realizing it, she stood up and started down the street, her cell phone still clampe to her ear. A sudden thought sparked in her head.

"Angel! What about Mark and Collins?"

Angel chuckled in her ear.

"Just leave them to me, sweetie."

* * *

Short, I know. I suck, I know! 


End file.
